A Happy Halloween
by Vita Orlando
Summary: Romantica holiday fluff with a little Egoist cameo for good measure.
1. Chapter 1

**My sweet ones, I'm throwing together a bit of holiday fluff for you before I get lost in an original piece for nanowrimo. I'll likely still update a bit, as I'll need some "break writing," but I expect it will be slower than usual for the duration of November. **

**Enjoy!**

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Hiroki gave up on grading. Why on earth did Akihiko have to show up at the most inconvenient times? It had been ages since he'd seen this much of the novelist, but lately he'd been invading Hiroki's office, under the pretense of borrowing this book or that, and then spent long, silent minutes starting out the window. His writing had been a bit different lately, too. _I am certainly not worried about him, but I should just maybe find out what's going on in case he tries to drag me any further into his craziness._

"Akihiko, why are you here?"

"Weren't you the one who threatened to castrate me if I didn't return this." He casually laid a small leather bound volume on Hiroki's desk. "I'll have you know I'd prefer to have certain parts of my anatomy remain intact, thank you very much."

"And yet such threats have never made you heed me at all in the past. So you'd better cut the crap and tell me what exactly it is you're up to these days."

"Ah, Hiroki," Akihiko shoved a hand through his hair and sat down. "I wish I knew."

"Well, you've been weird since Takahashi announced his wedding, and even weirder since he took his lovely bride and moved away. And you've been showing up here an awful lot. That mansion of yours feeling a little too empty these days?"

Akihiko barked out a laugh and shook his head. That wasn't the response Hiroki had been expecting. He was even more shocked at the idiotic smile and the light flush that colored his friend's pale cheeks. "Definitely not, Hiroki. I've got a roommate, now."

"You!?" _And more than a roommate, too, it seems_. "You could never tolerate anyone in your space. And whoever it is must be a saint, given that he hasn't yet murdered you in your sleep."

"You wound me, old boy. Am I really that insufferable?"

"Yes. Didn't I tell you I didn't have time for this today, and yet here you are."

"Oh, trying to get out early for a hot Halloween date with the handsome young doctor?" Akihiko leered. "You know you two are my readers' favorite couple. What's your costume?"

Hiroki hated the way his face burned. "I am not wearing a costume, nor am I participating in this idiotic holiday." He deftly plucked the stapler from his desk and launched it at Akihiko's silver head. Akihiko's reflexes had developed with Hiroki's assaults for years, though. He caught the object in one hand without changing his gaze.

Truth be told, he _did_ have a Halloween date with Nowaki. He'd drawn the line at wearing a costume, though.

"Shame." Akihiko said. "Kusama-san seems like the type who'd enjoy seeing you dressed up."

Hiroki did think his friend managed to characterize their relationship with a fair degree of accuracy in those revolting smut books. He'd certainly never let Akihiko know, that, though. His eyes widened when he felt Akihiko's hand in his pocket. "Just what the hell do you think you are doing right now?" Hiroki twisted and flipped Akihiko to the ground in one smooth motion.

"Ow." Akihiko rubbed at the back of his head, but he was smirking at the object in his hand. Too late, Hiroki realized it was his cell phone. "Relax, Hiroki. I'm going to do something nice for your boyfriend."

This definitely was not leading anywhere good. Hiroki tried to wrestle the phone from his friend's grip, but Akihiko fended him off and slipped into the hallway. Hiroki wasn't about to make a public scene so he could only listen, horrified.

"Ah, no. Sorry to disappoint, Kusama-san. It's Usami."

"Listen, you know, the wonder of fiction is that you can have things that are unattainable in real life. So, if I were to do an Egoist short for the holiday, what should Hiroki's costume be?" Akihiko's eyes were taking on a terrifying brightness. "Oh yes. That's perfect. It's just a little something for the fan club, but I'll send you a copy, shall I?" Akihiko looked surprised. "You are? I didn't know you enjoyed them that much. Well, perhaps we should go out for a drink sometime. I have been known to take requests."

Hiroki was too horrified to speak. It was bad enough that Akihiko wrote that trash. Worse that Nowaki enjoyed it. And he didn't doubt that Nowaki, given the opportunity, would volunteer his fictional ass for lord only knew what perversions.

"Cheer up, old boy." Akihiko said, slipping the phone back into Hiroki's pocket. "You really are a favorite. Do you have any idea how much the fangirls love you? You should be flattered."

"You'd better get out of here, Akihiko. If I see that smug face of yours for one more minute, I really might kill you." Hiroki gritted through clenched teeth.

"Yes. Yes." Akihiko gave a little wave and sauntered off, leaving Hiroki to fume alone. "It's about time for me to be going in any event."


	2. Chapter 2

Misaki's bag bit his flesh. He hefted it higher on his shoulder. He felt like he had to lug every textbook he owned today. Oh well, these were the days when Usagi's insistence on driving him was actually useful. Funny that Usagi hadn't gotten out of the car, or at least rolled down the window to greet him yet, though. Misaki leaned forward and peered through tinted glass. No Usagi. He must have wandered off somewhere, and quite a while ago judging by the number of tickets stuck beneath the wiper.

Before he could straighten up, though, the weight of his back was gone and long arms wrapped around him. He smelled cigarette smoke and Vetyver and Usagi. When had that combination started smelling like home? Misaki hated his heart for pounding the way it did when Usagi rested his chin on his shoulder, kissed him quickly on the cheek and rumbled, "I hope you weren't waiting long?"

Misaki tried to pry the man's hands off him. "You idiot. What if someone sees?" Misaki struggled harder, but he only managed to find himself pinned against the car door. He swore he could feel the weight of eyes on him.

"Oi. kid." Akihiko growled. "You'd better not scratch my car or I'll have to punish you."

_His rewards are already a torture of embarrassment. I definitely don't want to know what he thinks punishment is because there's not a chance it involves him keeping his hands to himself._ Misaki stopped struggling, and Usagi finally let him go, circling the car to open the passenger door for him. "Idiot! I'm not a girl."

Usagi laughed. "I believe I'm quite intimately familiar with that fact."

Misaki felt his cheeks heat. _Nice to see him in a good mood, though._ "You seem happier than this morning. Did you figure out what to write for your special?"

"Why, yes. I did."

"Please tell me it doesn't involve you dressing fictional me in any weird costumes."

"Not this time, no." Usagi frowned. "Last night you finally made a meal without green peppers."

_That's what you think. _Misaki just smiled, though. He felt much better now that he knew he was safe from the perversions of Usagi's pen, for a little while, at least. "Hey! Usagi, you wanna carve jack-o-lanterns tonight?"

"I've never done that before." Usagi looked intrigued.

"It's easy, and it's really fun. I'll get everything ready, so finish your work quickly, okay?"

Akihiko couldn't help smiling as Misaki practically bounced out of the elevator when it reached the lobby. Wouldn't two pumpkins be a lot to carry, though? He reached out and stopped the door from closing. "Misaki, can you carry those back without help?"

The boy looked chagrinned. When he got excited, he didn't always think ahead.

"Come on. Let's go together."

"Don't look so condescending, old man. You'll be begging for my help later. I'm like the pumpkin carving master, you know. I won the community center competition every year." It was all Akihiko could do not to grab Misaki and kiss him right there in the middle of the street. His blustering young pride was too cute.

After returning, Akihiko retreated to his office to write. Thank goodness he'd made that call to Kusama. He'd really just been trying to stop Hiroki's prying, but it really had helped. He had the whole short story done, revised, and emailed to Aikawa in under two hours.

"You can't wear that." Misaki eyed Akihiko's suit.

"Why not?" Misaki himself was dressed in pajama pants and an oversized old sweatshirt that Akihiko recognized as once belonging to Takahiro.

"Because your going to get squash guts all over yourself. Wear something that is okay to get dirty." He'd have just thrown out these clothes if they got too messed up. There wasn't anything special about them. Misaki would definitely yell at him if he said that though.

Akihiko dug in his closet for something that Misaki would find appropriate. He discarded his whole wardrobe seasonally to some charity. _Wait_. He'd covered half his bedroom floor with the contents of his closet before he found what he was looking for. Akihiko hadn't worn these particular jeans in years. They'd been a gift from Isaka, of all people, and he could only recall leaving the house in them once. He'd attracted a rather unnerving amount of attention.

_With how well Misaki's been feeding me, I hope they still fit._ Akihiko was amazed that they went on just fine, but he supposed he'd been drinking a lot less these days, and he certainly got more exercise than he ever had. Screwing counted as cardio, right? And Misaki, for his small stature, was really quite solid and surprisingly heavy to be hauling around all the time the way he did. Akihiko turned in the mirror. He shimmied his hips until the waistband sat just so. He pulled discarded his jacket, shirt, and tie, leaving just a short-sleeved undershirt. Yes. _I've definitely still got it. _In fact, Akihiko, pulled up his shirt and evaluated his abs. Yes, he looked even better than he had five years ago. Slashes in the denim revealed flashes of pale skin, one of which was high enough up on the back of his thigh that depending on how he moved, a careful observer might catch a brief glimpse of the bare curve of his ass. Yes. This would be fun. _Let's see Misaki try to pretend he's not interested in this._


	3. Chapter 3

Akihiko was sorely disappointed when Misaki didn't even glance up from his intricate carving to see him come down the stairs. Weren't pumpkin carvings supposed to be like a happy face, basically. Misaki was carving a scene from "The Kan," even going so far as to scrape away various amounts of the firm orange flesh to shade certain areas. Akihiko would have sulked, but the fierce concentration on Misaki's face was just too adorable. A stray bit of hair had come out of one Misaki's many clips, and he kept blowing it out of the way with a little irritated huff. It was just about all Akihiko could do not to just tackle his young lover to the floor and make a mess of him right there.

"How's this?" Akihiko flashed a bright grin and did a full turn, cocking his hip just so.

Misaki was silent for a moment before saying, in a rather thick voice, "Yeah, that's good. I guess."

Crimson painted Misaki's cheeks and he immediately returned to his work, adding even greater detail to the border around the panel. Akihiko grabbed his pumpkin and sat it on the newspaper Misaki had layered on the table. "Alright, sensei. What do I do?"

"So, first just cut the top off." Misaki gesture to the lid of his pumpkin. "Like that." He blew the strand of hair out of his face again, and nearly jumped out of his skin when Akihiko gently tucked it back into a clip, grazing his cheek with a cool hand in the process. Bravely, the boy forged on. "And then scoop out all the gooey stuff with the spoon. Do you know what kind of pumpkin you want to do?"

"Bear?"

"Okay." Misaki put a few finishing touches on his own work of art while Akihiko scooped. The slimy pumpkin felt unpleasant and strange on his arms.

"How's that?" Akihiko stepped back and noticed that he did have a rather unfortunate amount of pumpkin innards spread across his chest.

"Good. We just need to do a little more." Misaki took the spoon from his hand and leaned in, scraping the last of the slime away. "There."

Akihiko contemplated the knife in his hand and the bear in his mind before holding the handle towards Misaki. "Misaki, you should make me a bear."

"Really, you don't want to do it yourself?"

"I already did a lot, beside, you're actually really good at this."

"Of course I am. I told you that, didn't I?"

"So you did." Akihiko laughed. He loved it when Misaki got a little cocky, especially when it was deserved.

"Okay." Misaki took the knife and set to work in a series of quick precise cuts. It was amazing that he didn't even need to draw an outline or something. It was rather odd, now that he thought about it, that Misaki wasn't interested in art. He certainly had the talent for it. Akihiko opened a low drawer to grab a fresh pack of cigarettes from the carton he kept there when he heard Misaki yelp. He tossed the pack on the table and looked at Misaki. The boy was bright red and would not meet his eyes. He pressed a paper towel against his finger.

"Misaki." Akihiko was suddenly concerned. He also felt a little please that he really had managed to have such a visible effect on his normally hesitant lover, though he hated himself for it. "Did you cut yourself? Let me see."

"It's not bad." Misaki said "Don't worry about me."

"I'm sorry." Akihiko said, very seriously. "It's my fault. I should be bending over in these jeans when you've got a knife in your hand. I wore them to distract you."

"I was not distracted by your perfect ass." Misaki snapped, flushing an even deeper crimson and squeezing his eyes shut.

"Yeah right." Akihiko said. The instant he removed the towel a small bead of blood welled up. Akihiko bent his head over Misaki's hand and licked at the cut a couple of times before sucking the poor damaged fingertip into his mouth. Misaki's sweet skin tasted of metallic blood and bittersweet uncooked squash. He tounged the wound again after a few moments and was pleased that it didn't seem to be bleeding any more. Still, now that he had his mouth on Misaki, he didn't fancy losing the contact. Still, what was the point of dressing up if things moved too fast. He looked deep into Misaki's eyes. Verdant green had been nearly swallowed by swollen black pupils. Akihiko was more than please that Misaki anticipated his kiss and wasn't pulling away. He'd meant for it to be just a chaste brush of the lips, but Misaki opened to him almost immediately upon contact, and it quickly became something much more.

Akihiko felt his heart slamming in his chest when he pulled away. He wanted to feel Misaki wanting him for just a little more, until he really couldn't take it. "Misaki." He purred, letting his hot breath caress his lover's ear. "Why don't we finish this later." Without further comment, he moved towards the stairs, adding just a little sway to each step. He swore he could feel Misaki's gaze searing his exposed flesh. He didn't dare to turn around in case it was his imagination.

When he finally did, he was halfway up the stairs, and Misaki hadn't moved at all. He seemed a bit dazed. "Misaki." Akihiko used his most commanding tone, "Come to bed. Now."

Misaki's eyes widened, but he started to climb the stairs. Akihiko supposed it had been quite unrealistic to hope that Misaki might actually pounce him for once. Still, this was definitely progress.

Standing in the bedroom doorway, watching Misaki's hesitant approach, Akihiko decided that he like Halloween.

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**So there's a little bit of candy for you, sweet ones, entirely unedited and written in just a couple hours. I apologize for any glaring errors. I know there are bound to be some. **

**Please do review if you have a moment.**


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